McAdam With Gresh: How Much Criticism Does LeBron Deserve?

LeBron James of the Miami Heat rests on the bench in the game against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the 2014 NBA Finals on June 5, 2014 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

BOSTON (CBS) – CSNNE’s Sean McAdam filled in for Scott Zolak Friday during the Gresh and Zolak Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub. During the show, Gresh and McAdam focused on the festivities of Game 1 of the NBA Finals — mainly the leg cramp suffered by LeBron James.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals was held at the AT&T Center in San Antonio and during the game, the air conditioner malfunctioned. Because of the inconvenience, the temperature in the arena rose to high temperatures and players were affected.

The player that was most affected by the rise in temperature was LeBron James, who had to leave the game with 3:59 remaining in the 4th quarter with leg cramps. After the game, James was highly criticized on Twitter, because this wasn’t the first time he has left a Finals game because of cramping.

Both Gresh and McAdam agreed that this was a bad look for LeBron, having to leave a Finals game again with cramps. The first time was two years ago against the Thunder.

“Cramping sounds, frankly, a little soft,” said McAdam. “Regardless of how serious it is and what it does to your body, it’s the sound of it that will invite people who don’t like LeBron to just jump on that.”

People have been criticizing James greatly for leaving the game with cramps, especially when Magic Johnson chimed in on Twitter. Johnson was referring to the NBA Finals’ of the 1980’s when his Lakers would have to play the Celtics in the old Boston Garden, which had no air conditioner and temperatures would get as high 90 degrees. During those championship series, players had to deal with those high temperatures consistently.

“You’ve got to be able to deal the circumstances,” said Gresh. “LeBron couldn’t do it. But it was visible to everyone, that guy’s [James] body was shutting down. There was really not much he could do. ”

Everybody can agree that all eyes will be on LeBron when he takes the court for Game 2 Sunday night. Cramps are no joke and can shut down a body for hours. This will be the ultimate test of toughness for him and the real question is, how will he respond to everybody’s criticism?